Kelsey Wedeen (Kelli Lake) —Kelsey Wedeen was born in San Francisco, California, but grew up in Los Angeles. She is the granddaughter of Frances Kavanaugh, one of "Old Hollywood's" most successful western screenwriters. After spending the majority of her youth in the gymnasium training to be an Olympic gymnast, Kelsey discovered her real passion when she was picked out by talent scouts to star in a National Coca-Cola commercial opposite the famous gymnastics coach, Bela Karolyi. At the same time Kelsey landed the role of Juliet in her school's production of Romeo and Juliet. After being hit with the acting bug by those two projects, Kelsey chose to dedicate her life to the craft of acting, studying in both New York and Los Angeles.
Kelsey Crane (Brielle Lake) —Born in Palo Alto, California, Kelsey fell in the love with acting at the age of nine when she was cast in her very first play. Kelsey was accepted to the University of Southern California's BA Theatre program. While at USC, Kelsey took as many acting classes as her schedule would allow. In addition to her coursework, Kelsey acted in more than 15 USC Student Films. During her junior year at USC, Kelsey attended The British American Dramatic Academy (BADA), a classical conservatory in London. Post graduation, Kelsey booked a recurring role for G4 Productions, in which she got to play six very different comedic characters. In addition to television and theatre, Kelsey has appeared in several independent films, including; “The Danny McKay Project”; “Waking Up With Monsters” and “Lake Dead.” Kelsey is represented by her amazing managers at Main Title Entertainment and an incredible team of agents at TalentWorks. Her television credits include Swingtown (CBS) and Pretty Handsome (FOX).
Tara Gerard (Samantha “Sam” Lake) —Tara Gerard is most well known for winning the popular fox reality show “Paradise Hotel” back in 2001 which is scheduling to rebroadcast in syndication on the Fox Reality channel. Since then Tara has been keeping busy with several high profile modeling jobs as well as continuing her pursuit of acting in feature films.
Alex Quinn (Bill) —Alex Quinn is the son of legendary Oscar winning actor Anthony Quinn. Alex has most recently been seen on the reality show “Filthy Rich Cattle Drive,” and has appeared in six other feature films to date. Alex is currently beginning pre-production on a feature film entitled “Glass” which will shoot in Hawaii and of which Alex is the lead producer. Aside from his busy acting and producing schedule Alex also runs a successful red carpet and party planning/promoting company called “Alex Quinn Presents.”
Dan Woods (John Lake) —Dan is well know in Canada for his role as ‘Mr. Raditch' on the popular television “DeGrassi Jr. High,” and for the role of ‘Principal Raditch' on the continuations of the same show entitled “DeGrassi High” and “DeGrassi: Generations.” All three shows are currently running in syndication on the cable channel Noggin. Dan is also currently producing and hosting the television show “Chop Cut Rebuild” on the Speed channel.
James Burns (Sheriff Chuck) —James has appeared in over a 100 films, commercials and TV shows. He is the author of the acclaimed book “WHAT MY DOG KNOWS: A book of Canine Wit and Wisdom” and spends as much time as possible in the wild. Upcoming appearances include the film releases of “Expired” with Samantha Morton and Jason Patrick, “Fashion Victim” with Stacey Dash and several national commercials. Presently he just wrapped up his role as the vampire Burke in “Decadent Evil 2” (to b released in July of '07). Born in Western Massachusetts, BA in Economics from Union College, and played hockey professionally in Europe and the US. James was Theater trained in NYC where he lived for 20 years, and currently shares a home in the Hollywood Hills with his “gal” Nancye and three lovely cats.
Vanessa Viola (Amy) —Shortly after graduating high school Vanessa Viola moved from her native San Francisco, to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of becoming an actor. A National TV commercial for Verizon Wireless quickly followed and shortly after Vanessa booked roles on ABC's General Hospital, MTV's The Andy Dick Show, ABC's short lived sitcom, My Adventures in Television and CBS’s drama Smith. Vanessa eventually booked her first supporting role in the short, "Liquid Confidence," produced by Brett Ratner. Her first short film to circulate the festivals, "Frame of Mind," directed by Simon Joeker, was picked up by HBO Latin. She later booked her first lead role in an independent feature, "Against the Grain," directed by Tyrone Laforrest. Currently in post-production is her latest film, “Street Dreams,” starring Paul Rodriguez. She can also be found in ads for Nike Women, Yamaha Speakers, Suzuki, and Verizon Wireless.
Pat McNeely (Gloria) —Two years ago Pat McNeely took a chance and left behind a career as an early childhood teacher and instructional specialist in Dallas, Texas, to pursue a career in acting in Hollywood. Within a year, Pat secured commercials for Little Caesar’s, Firefox, MLB, and Aquafina. You might also recognize her as the pool-shooting, gun-toting nun on the cover of Black Label Society’s latest CD release, Behind the Eight Ball. Additionally, Pat has appeared as the aged and senile Mrs. Randalman in the pilot of “Trapped in TV Guide” and as arrogant and ill fated Marjorie Nugent in Strange Felony Files airing on Court TV this fall. She has played principle roles in three student productions and supporting roles in two short SAG experimental films
LAKE DEAD: The Creators
THE WRITER
Daniel Coughlin submitted his script to Alliance Group Entertainment through a posting placed at Long Beach State College during his last year as a screen writing major. Alliance purchased two scripts for development and production and signed Dan to a management contract before he graduated. During script development for “Lake Dead” Dan was in the middle of an internship for his long time idle Wes Craven, whom he met through one of his mentors at Long Beach State.
THE DIRECTOR
George Bessudo grew up in Houston Texas and Mexico City. After graduating with a communications degree, he began his career working in television as a production assistant and quickly rose through the ranks to become the youngest director in Mexico’s largest television network. With a lifelong passion for film, he soon realized that Los Angeles was the place to be. 2006 has been a whirlwind year for Mr. Bessudo as he has completed his first feature film“Lake Dead” for Alliance Group Entertainment and is currently in post-production on “The Farmhouse” scheduled for release in 2008.
